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Dust storms and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds wreaked havoc in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and the national capital, killing at least 34 people and leaving behind a trail of destruction.

West Bengal bore the brunt of a thunderstorm that left at least 12 people including four children dead, while 11 were killed in Uttar Pradesh and nine in Andhra Pradesh, and two in Delhi, officials said.

At several places in north India including Delhi, high-velocity winds uprooted trees and affected road, rail and air services.

Today's devastation comes over 10 days after storms hit UP, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Punjab, killing 134 people and injuring over 400. UP was the worst affected, accounting for 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.

Subsequently on May 9, several parts of Uttar Pradesh were struck by a severe storm that left 18 dead and 27 others injured.

A squall and dust storm with a wind speed of up to 109 kmph battered Delhi and neighbouring areas today, killing two persons and injuring 19 others, and throwing flight, rail and metro operations out of gear.

Principal secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi told PTI, "Four deaths have been reported from Kasganj, while two persons died in Bulandshahr. Apart from this, one death each has been reported from Kannauj, Aligarh, Sambhal, Ghaziabad and Noida."

In Andhra Pradesh, nine persons were killed in lightning strikes.

While seven persons were killed in Srikakulam district alone, two more were killed in Kadapa, officials said.

Various parts of the southern state witnessed rain, accompanied by gales.

In Delhi, the sky turned dark grey around 4:30 pm. Gusty winds and rain lashed the national capital, causing the temperature to drop to 25.2 degrees Celsius.

The much-needed reprieve came after a sweltering day, when the maximum temperature had reached 40.60 degrees Celsius, a notch above the normal. Humidity during the morning hours was recorded at 60 per cent, a MeT official said.

The officials said two squalls whipped through the national capital. One clocking 109 kmph hit the Safdarjung area at 4:44 pm and continued till 4:46 pm. The other gusting to 96 kmph battered the Palam area at 4:33 pm.

The strong winds knocked down nearly 200 trees in the city. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from Najafgarh, Transit Camp, Nehru Place, Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar and Raj Nagar in Palam, said a senior officer of the Delhi Fire Service.

A man was crushed to death in a wall collapse, while a woman was killed when a tree uprooted and fell on her, the police said.

Traffic in many areas moved at a snail's pace due to the reduced visibility.